The NASCAR season is nine months long, so it can get a little boring after a while. However, this year the drivers and crew members really saved the best for last. Or second-last, to be precise.

On Sunday, during the AdvoCare 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway (the penultimate race of the season), not only was there a takeover of the top spot on the Chase leaderboard and a nasty crash, but there was also a pretty awesome melee after the race.

The change at the top of the leaderboard came courtesy of five-time champ Jimmie Johnson‘s blown tire and Brad Keselowski‘s 6th place finish. As a result, Keselowski is now in a position to win the Sprint Cup with a 15th place finish in the season finale next week.

However, overshadowing all of this was the bad blood between Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer.

Bowyer swapped some paint with Gordon earlier in the race, and apparently, that was the final straw for the four-time Cup champ. So on the final lap of the race Gordon got back at Bowyer, as he slowed down to pull up next to him and drove him into the wall.

And that wasn’t the end of it.

After the race, a full-on brawl broke out on pit road between Bowyer’s pit crew and Gordon. Then, Bowyer hopped out of his car and made a long dramatic run to go kick some ass himself.

Check it out:

So what did Jeff Gordon have to say for himself after initiating this NASCAR Royal Rumble? Well, he basically explained that this was the culmination of numerous run-ins with Bowyer this season.

“Clint has run into me numerous times, wrecked me, and he got into me on the back straightaway and pretty much ruined our day,” the NASCAR legend said. “I’ve had it, fed up with it, and I got him back.”

Of course, other drivers (and presumably NASCAR officials) weren’t as amused by the shenanigans as many of us were.

Brad Keselowski, who you would have thought would be pretty excited to be on the verge of the Sprint Cup title, instead commented, “I’m more just disappointed in the quality of racing that we saw today. I thought it was absolutely ridiculous, and I was ashamed to be a part of it.”

I guess he’s right. It was kind of ridiculous…but also kind of awesome. After all, who doesn’t love a good NASCAR fight?